Welcome to the Pregged pregnancy week-by-week series. Each week-by-week post is separated into three handy sections.
1. Mom – Section one covers the changes mom will experience and the things she may need to consider health-wise.
2. Baby – Section two looks at the development of the fetus and what’s going on with baby inside the womb.
3. Nutrition – Section three covers nutrition for each week of pregnancy so that you know what foods are important to include in your diet at each stage.
6 WEEKS PREGNANT – MOM
Did I forget to mention extreme fatigue? OMG, how can such a puny little ‘being’ cause so much of an energy drain? I mean, it’s only the size of a raspberry! Besides the extreme demands placed on every organ, the progesterone level is higher than ever, and progesterone makes you drowsy. Add that to low blood glucose because the baby gets fed first, and you start feeling like the walking dead. The best you can do is eat more frequently, rest, nap, sleep, and repeat. Again, eat, drink, rest, nap, sleep-in that order. Just a few more weeks and you’ll feel tons better when you enter the second trimester—pure bliss in comparison to the one that precedes or follows it.
Baby Development
Plump like a grape and almost an inch long, your baby’s head is nearly half the size of the entire body, and she or he looks like an alien with the head tucked into the chest and the arms close to the chest. Ears are forming, and the eyelids are fused shut. There are tiny fingers and toes, but they look swollen. The intestines are being pulled into the body cavity from the umbilical cord. The urinary system separates from the genital system, but the actual genitals are indistinguishable as boy or girl. The heart is completely divided into four chambers with early-forming valves. The eyes are still on the side of the head, but the features are surprisingly human at this point. The end of the embryo period has been replaced with the fetal period. The liver and pancreas get more significant and more productive. Early bones start to ossify—hardening from cartilage to bone-like.
Pregnancy Nutrition Week 6
To fuel the baby-making factory that’s in operation 24/7, you’re producing more blood, your heart rate is up, your metabolism is burning energy over time (even when you’re lying down), and you’re using up more nutrients and water. What’s more, your body’s still in the process of manufacturing your baby’s placenta (which won’t be complete until the fourth month). So, you need high-quality energy-boosting foods.
Pro-energy protein. Protein is nature’s ultimate pick-me-up. It provides you with the kind of energy that keeps you going — instead of leaving you flat in the middle of the day. Better still, the amino acids in protein-rich foods will also aid in the development of your baby’s rapidly reproducing cells. You will find it in milk, cheese, eggs, lean meat, poultry, fish and seafood, tofu and soy products (soy pasta, edamame), beans, lentils, split peas, quinoa, nuts, and seeds.
Complex carbs. Choose healthy complex carbohydrates that nourish your baby and fuel your energy needs – fresh fruits, dried and freeze-dried fruits, fresh vegetables, whole-grain breads, crackers, and cereals, baked potatoes (with skins on), dried beans and peas.
Introducing iron. Fatigue can be related to iron-deficiency anemia, especially as pregnancy progresses and the demands of blood-making start to take their toll. Make sure you get some iron-rich foods daily at least 18 mg a day recommended – iron-fortified cereals, dried fruit, spinach, soy products, lean red meat, duck, shellfish, cooked dried beans.